


we’re here for you

by Monasabby



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, IRL Fic, Medical Conditions, SBI meetup, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Terminal Illnesses, big brother wilbur soot, made up medical condition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29231085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monasabby/pseuds/Monasabby
Summary: tommy’s been hiding something serious from his friends on the smp, when it causes things to go awry right before one of his biggest streams ever, he has to deal with how his world is changing and how to finally learn that people actually do care about him!
Relationships: Dream SMP Ensemble & TommyInnit, Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 26
Kudos: 646





	we’re here for you

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i’ve been working on this since the exile arc, but i changed it to fit the doomsday stuff to make it more relevant.
> 
> tw: swearing, terminal illness, hospitals, mention of eating disorders, fainting
> 
> (note: tommy’s condition is completely made up, i based it on some things that i know people in my life go through).

when tommy woke up that saturday morning he had little to no clue how terrible things would become.

he woke up to intense pain in his head and chest area. shutting his eyes tight he groaned, turning away from the light. looking at the clock he shot upwards. 

fuck, it was 10:20, he had slept in and missed his first few classes of the day. 

sluggishly he climbed down the stairs, where he saw his dad doing work at the table. 

his dad looked surprised to see him still home, but after taking one look at him his dad immediately got up from table and came to his side. seeing his condition he agreed to let him take the day off on the promise that he would check up on tommy every hour to monitor his condition and tommy would tell him if he felt any worse. they didn’t want to risk another hospital visit. 

tommy nodded and headed back up stairs. going up the stairs however was way more exhausting then it was to go down them, and by the time he had made it back to his bedroom he felt very faint and weak. his breathing was shallow while his lungs felt heavy and, world seemed to be spinning around him. he went back into bed, burying himself under a thick pile of blankets as chills washed over him. 

he curled into his side, and pain wracked through his lower abdomen.

damn it. he hadn’t had a proper episode in so long, why now of all times? he was supposed to do a recording with wilbur later this evening, and tomorrow was apparently the big ‘doomsday stream’ on the smp. fuck.

he groggily reached out for his phone and haphazardly sent a message to wilbur. he didn’t double check it, and the small still logical part of his brain told him that it wouldn’t make any sense, but he had to let wilbur know he couldn’t record today in case he slept through it.

his episodes used to be really bad when he was a kid. when he was two he had been diagnosed with a really rare medical condition. it was a genetic condition, apparently his grandfather had it, but he had passed away only a short while after his mother was born. it was a painful illness which was often the cause for multiple hospital visits that could last multiple days. he had been doing a lot better recently, and although tommy knew that there was no ‘cure’ and that it was something he would live with forever, he had been foolish to think that he would stay fine for so long without having another episode. he actually had made it a three months without going to the hospital, sure he had gone in for regular screenings and checkups (every three weeks) but even then he had been doing a lot better.

but here he was, for the first time in months once again laying in pain, tears in his eyes as he willed for a hole to just appear underneath him and swallow him up. he absentmindedly recognised that his phone was buzzing with multiple notifications, so he shakily picked it up again, seeing that wilbur had responded.

** tommy:  heyd wilbur i cantt record todsay sorry not feelinfjg very well  **

** wilbur:  that’s fine tommy, we can re schedule, are you okay though? **

** wilbur:  tommy?  **

** wilbur:  tommy? let me know if you’re okay please **

** wilbur:  tommy? **

Tommy looked at the time.  oh.  it was already 11:35, how had time passed so fast?

shakily he pushed himself up from his bed, leaning against the coolness of the wall. he hummed to himself slowly, as he peeled the covers off himself. the thought to actually respond to wilbur was far away from his mind as he stood up slowly from his bed.

immediately feeling lightheaded he leant against the wall as a wave of nausea wracked through his body.

almost perfectly timed his dad came in through his bedroom door. 

“how’re you doing?” he asked, softly brushing tommy’s hair out of his face. 

when tommy tried to speak he cringed at how scratchy his voice was.

“i-i-i, i’m- i’m feeling- i’m feeling” exasperated at himself tommy clenched his eyes shut bowing his head. he hated when his stutter resurfaced, which was almost always when he was sick. he hated his stutter, he had worked so hard on it. he knew that it was something he couldn’t control but it didn’t matter to him. he was been bullied relentlessly for it as a child and he didn’t want the internet finding out about it ever.

he realistically knew that if he tried to focus harder on the techniques he had learnt in during his many years of speech therapy it would be better, but his brain was already feeling clogged enough and his entire body ached too much.

his dad nodded in understanding. “are you feeling well enough to stay here by yourself? i have to pop into work for a bit, where are you on the scale?”

the stupid scale. tommy hated it. it had been the way he told his parents his level of pain and discomfort when he was younger, before he could properly use his words. he didn’t mind using it with them, but it was still  _embarrassing_ ,  it made him feel like a little kid again, something he was not.

in fact, he absolutely hated whenever he had an episode. the whole experience was not only painful and awful, but it made his parents completely baby him as if he was 6 and not 16. 

nevertheless he didn’t want to keep his dad away from work, or make him worry. 

“8” he responded.

his dad narrowed his eyes. “you sure?” tommy nodded, not meeting his eyes. 

“okay then, go take your meds before you go, they should help you feel a bit better. and make sure you message or call me if you start to feel worse alright?” 

tommy nodded again in agreement then followed his dad downstairs. he took his meds then went back up stairs. his head began to feel more clear but he was still in pain. 

he got onto his computer, checking discord. oh, yeah he hadn’t responded to wilbur. he sent a simple ‘i’m fine’ before loading up minecraft. 

now, it’s not like he was hiding his condition from his friends per say, he just had chosen to not let them know, and he planned on keeping it that way.

he didn’t want them to worry about him, orthink differently of him. his irl friends already knew, and telling someone that your life expectancy doesn’t go much higher then 35 years of age isn’t the most pleasant experience.

ever since he was born his body had been against him. the cells in his system were  _ wrong,  _ causing them to slowly attack against each other. it was more of a gradual thing, growing weaker and weaker as time passed, but every now and again he’d flare up. and all he knew was the pain that came alongside it. 

he opened the dream smp, before quickly checking to see if anyone was live. he didn’t wanna risk being asked to join a vc and make a fool of himself. he saw that awesamdude and punz were live, but the likelihood of them confronting him on the sever were low. it was much easier to deny joining a vc if they weren’t live. 

loading into the world he noticed that he was in l’manberg. he didn’t really know what to do, so he decided to get a bunch of cobblestone and do what he did best, build a giant ugly fucking tower. 

he was having a pretty chill time, and no one had bothered or interrupted him. he was listening to his music and if he had to have his screen on the lowest brightness setting to not disturb his headache, then it was something he could bear.

he groaned as a new message popped up on the in game chat.

_** wilbur soot joined the game  ** _

now don’t him wrong, he loved and looked up to wilbur a lot, he was like tommy’s older brother in a way, but after their exchange this morning the idea of talking to the older man was nerve wracking.

as if it was fate wilbur called him on discord. he let it ring a few times before sighing and answering. 

“hey tommy? just checking in if you’re all good” 

tommy exhaled before speaking, willing himself to suppress his stutter, 

“y-yeah, i was just-just feeling a little sick this morning” he tried to soothe his racing heart, why was he so panicked over this?

“yeah you sound a bit rough dude, i was bored and hopped on the smp and saw that you were on so i though i’d just check in” wilbur said coming over to tommy’s character in game.

tommy hummed in response. the two played in silence for a few minutes as wilbur began to build some structure as tommy watched. 

“are you still good for tomorrow’s streams? you seem pretty out of it tommy,” he knew that wilbur was coming from a place of care and concern, but the words seemed all too similar to what his parents would say when they were babying him.

“n-no it’s fine, i should b-be feeling better tomorrow” if wilbur noticed his slight stutter he didn’t comment on it, but it wasn’t like this was the first time he had let out his stutter in front of the man before. however he still tried to hide it just as much. 

“okay. just know that if you aren’t you could always let us know and we could reschedule it,” tommy sighed, he didn’t want to be a disturbance. 

wilbur seemed to sense on tommy’s mood change and steered towards a different topic. it was nice. just the two on them chilling on the server. neither of them were live, there was no storyline or plot - they were just doing their own thing.

wilbur had been slightly concerned that tommy was a lot quieter than usual, but he only put it up to him being sick.

after a few hours they both logged out and ended the call.

“remember tommy, if you really aren’t feeling too well we can alway reschedule, none of us would mind if you’re sick,”

tommy once again denied it and said that he would be fine tomorrow morning before ending the call.

oh how much he wished that would be true.

a little while after ending the call with wilbur his mum came home, and she immediately began to panic and fuss over him. she forced him to take more of his meds and looked after him until his dad came home. 

when his dad came home, his mum was furious. she began yelling at him for leaving tommy home alone, and half of what they were saying seemed to drift right over his head. before he knew it they were both yelling at each other and were in the midst of yet another arguement. he could almost visualise the words and letters they were saying just floating through the air, making the room more and more cramped. his lungs and mind were screaming at him and everything  _hurt_.

the room eventually became far too cramped with words and phrases and tommy broke down. his parent immediately quieted, making the words vanish, but his tears wouldn’t stop. his mum and dad comforted him, wrapping him up in their kind words and warm arms. 

he hated being babied, but he had brought this upon himself. his parents had been having a normal fight and he had just started crying like a toddler in the middle of it. 

he was always more emotional when his condition flared up and he never knew why. something about being overwhelmed by stressors, having too much pressure with the physical pain and mental stressors. 

“toms hey, we’re not mad at you okay? just worried, i’m sorry that we were yelling” his mother whispered, her voice soft and comforting. he leant into their arms more, embarrassed but craving the comfort of his parents. they shared a glance over his head, having a silent conversation.

his dad leant back slightly, looking him in the eyes. “how’re you feeling toms? better or worse than earlier?”

he shrugged, covering his face with his hands.

“s-s-s-six?” he stumbled over the simple word, brain far too tired to keep up with his mind. 

“okay, it’s late, and unless you are hungry i can’t imagine you wanting to do anything other than sleep right now correct?” his mum asked. he nodded.

“okay, so let’s go up to bed, and if you feel worse we might have to go to the hospital later,”

tommy immediately shook his head and began to protest, he had the important stream tomorrow he couldn’t bail on everyone last minute.

“toms, you know how serious it can get if we don’t go to the hospital in time” 

he did as a matter of fact know. once when he was seven he had stayed in the hospital for over a month during a particularly bad flare up after not paying attention to the warning signs during the first few days. 

he sighed agreeing, before making his way upstairs to bed. he said goodnight to his parents before trying to sleep.

emphasis on trying.

he spent multiple hours awake in bed, trying to get himself to fall asleep. he writhed and moved but every position only seemed to bring more pain to aching bones and muscles. he felt burning hot and incredibly freezing at the same time, and his head felt as if someone was banging a hammer atop of it. 

eventually he fell asleep, but it didn’t last for long and he was thrown into the throes of a nightmare. he awoke in a panic, his heart pounding and thundering. 

he got out of bed on wobbly feet, and he noticed the small amounts of sunlight that was beginning to show from behind his curtain. he checked the time. 5:09am. great. 

he made his way downstairs, clutching onto the railway with dear life. his chest felt constricted, and each breath  hurt.

not paying attention, he missed the last step and everything came crashing down. he fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, taking the hallway table down with him. he cried out for help as he lied in a crumpled heap on the floor, surrounded by various trinkets that had been on the top of the table. 

he barely registered his parents rushing down the stairs before everything turned black. as everything faded away he only had one thought, “maybe i should’ve rescheduled the stream”

when he finally came to be he was surrounded by white. 

he could hear the faint sounds of beeping and equipment and based off of prior experience he was easily able to piece together that he was in a hospital.

as he opened his eyes he was saw that he was in yet another small hospital room. it was one he had been in multiple times before throughout his life, no matter what it seemed that he would always end up back here. he looked around the room, seeing his parents seated on the other side. they were discussing something, speaking in hushed tones. 

he groaned, reaching up to rub his eyes when he realised he was hooked up to an iv. he whimpered shifting in the bed as his parents noticed he was awake.

“hey toms” his mum said softly pulling her chair closer to the bed. 

“h-hi” he said, his voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. his mother smiled warmly at him, he could tell that she had been crying.

“it’s been quite a while since we’ve been back here,” his father muttered ruffling tommy’s hair. 

tommy scanned them with his eyes, before burying himself in his arms. 

his father sighed before pulling him into a hug. hospital visits were never fun for the innit household, and often foreboded bad bad things.

speaking of bad things tommy’s main doctor at the hospital, Dr. Michaels walked into the room. tommy took a deep breath before sitting up. 

“hi tom, how are you feeling?” 

Dr. Michaels was always nice, she specialised in kids and teenagers, and she had helped their family for many years. 

“I- I- not, I don’t know” he said honestly. he wasn’t sure how he felt. they had put him on painkillers and meds so he couldn’t really tell how he was feeling physically.

she nodded with a smile. “so i’ve already briefly spoken to your parents about this, but considering you’re a big teenager now, and not a little kid anymore i think you can know the details.” even though it was forced that she was trying to make it seem as if she wasn’t babying him, at least she was putting in an effort.

“so!” he winced at her loud tone but she didn’t seem to notice.

“do we know why you’re in here again?” she asked.

tommy stayed quiet.

she pursed her lips together in a sad smile. “you were going through a flare up, and it started a few days ago. however you didn’t tell anyone until yesterday, which was when it started to get bad,” he looked down avoiding eye contact.

Dr. Michaels sighed. “Tom, we’ve been here before, when you start to feel bad you  _ must  _ tell your parents and come here for a check up, you cannot keep waiting until it gets bad or - until you pass out on the stairs,”

she looked over her clipboard. “this flare up is basically the same as the others in the past, just remember to take your medications daily and practice the airway excercises we’ve been through.”

“Now,” she started, looking at his parents with a look tommy didn’t quite understand.

“While this flare up is mostly the same as others, had you not come to the hospital when you did it could’ve been fatal.” she paused for a moment letting it sink in.

tommy’s dad sucked in a breath, looking away. 

“and the reason for that is a lack of self care, thomas you are not only facing malnutrition, but other factors such as sleep, not drinking enough water and general self-care practices, but the biggest one is definitely malnutrition.” 

tommy didn’t make eye contact with anyone, but he could feel his parents eyes looking over him. 

“he isn’t eating enough, and i’m not trying to suggest anything here thomas, but if it’s not you just forgetting to eat and forgetting to take care of yourself then this situation could possibly be a lot more complicated,”

eyes widening at what she was hinting at tommy shot his head up meeting his parents eyes.

“w-what? no! i-i would never do that on purpose i swear i don’t have a-a-a” 

his mum immediately began shushing his stroking his hair calmly. 

“we know sweetheart, we didn’t think you would but dr. michaels said it would be good to bring it up just in case, you know you can always tell us if you’re struggling right?” dr michaels nodded a sad smile on her face.

“it’s sad and i didn’t think so, but we do get a lot of young people like you who come in here struggling with issues they don’t talk about, i didn’t think that was the reason but it’s better to be safe than sorry tom,” he nodded, resting his hands in his lap.

“however,” dr michaels started, “it is clear that you haven’t been eating enough, and while it isn’t anyone’s fault in particular, i understand that life can sometimes get busy, you need to make sure that you are always treating your body and mind kindly. Now, i’ll leave you for a bit, but we would like to keep him here for a few nights to see how his current condition progresses, it shouldn’t be longer than three days,”

tommy nodded, as his parents thanked dr. michaels.

his mother sighed resting her hand on his shoulder. “you heard what she said,” he nodded.

“we just want you to look after yourself more toms,” he leant into his mum’s touch.

“i will, i- i promise,” 

the day seemed to pass slowly, with doctors coming in and out of his room, and eventually he fell asleep.

when he awoke it was still dark out, and with a quick look at the small clock on the hospital room wall it told him that it was only a little bit past 1am.

he stretched his arms and sat up. his dad sat asleep in one of the chairs, and his mum was somewhere else in the hospital. 

just as he was wondering where his mum had gone she quietly opened the door to the room and stepped in. her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that he was awake. 

“you’re awake?” he nodded

she chuckled, “i was trying to find a place to get a late night coffee, i just came here to get my purse, is there anything you want or need?”

“can i have my phone?” he hadn’t checked anything in a whole two days, he hoped none of his friends had been cancelled 

she tossed him his phone with a smile and left the room again. 

he turned his phone on, trying to push down the anxiety that was beginning to bubble

immediately he was met by countless notifications from discord, twitter and even his normal messages. 

squinting he checked his discord messages first, unsure of why he had so many notifications.

he had multiple missed calls and messages from almost everyone in the smp, the most were from wilbur and tubbo however.

shit. he remembered now. checking the time he could see that it was definitely too late. he had missed his stream. and it wasn’t just any stream, it was a big one, the doomsday stream. they had all been hyping it up for days and he had missed it. 

with shaky hands he pressed on wilburs icon, and scrolled through the countless messages.

** wilbur: hey tommy ready to stream soon? **

** wilbur: are you starting soon **

** wilbur: tubbo n the others are starting where r you? **

** wilbur: are you okay? we’re waiting but chats asking where you are **

** wilbur: tommy? **

** wilbur: where are you?  **

** wilbur: we’ve changed the plot momentarily for tonight are you okay???? **

** wilbur: tubbo just ended stream, can you let me know if you’re okay? **

** wilbur: you completely missed the streams today people are worried, is this related to the other day?? **

he had received similar messages from dream, quackity, fundy and the rest, but he hesitated to press on tubbo’s.

when he said that no one knew of his condition he lied, tubbo was the only one who had known, and that was only because they had met when he was slightly younger and his flare ups had been more common.

** tubbo: i’m exited for today’s streamsss  😃😃 **

** tubbo: i’m about to start r u ready **

** tubbo: i’ve started streaming are you ready? **

** tubbo: tommy? **

** tubbo: tommy where r u are u okay?? **

** tubbo: wilbur and the others are texting u are u okay??? **

** tubbo: tommy?? **

** tubbo: we changed the stream msg me what’s happning **

** tubbo: is it the thingy again ?? it’s been a while since it last got bad **

** tubbo: lmk if ur okay tommy tho  **

tommy sighed running his hand through his hair. his phone felt heavy in his hand. he didn’t know what to say to anyone.

“oh sorry for randomly disappearing i just fainted due to a terminal illness i have and imma be in hospital for a week or so lmao”

no that was ridiculous.

actually... 

tommy sighed and pressed back on wilburs name. hesitantly he typed out the message. while it may be blunt and probably very confusing, at least it had all the important points down. honestly all of the medication and drugs he had been put on probably were to blame for this random surge of impulsiveness but that was an issue for future tommy to worry about.

checking for any remaining typos, he sucked in a breath and pressed send. 

he hastily responded to tubbo confirming what his older friend thought was true, then set his phone down to rest.

the thing he hated about the hospital the most was perhaps how quiet it was. aside from the noise of machinery and beeping, there was nothing but his thoughts. 

hospitals tended to bring out the worst in him, and this visit was no different. 

facing nothing but the silence his train of thought began to drift. the scariest thing about his condition was knowing that he only had a limited amount of time. while everyone around was growing up, excited for the future - he was dreading it. 

it was only a matter of time until his expiry date caught up to him.

he thought of phil. they were honestly really good friends despite the age difference. phil was 32, turning 33. tommy smiled bittersweetly. it scared a lot to think about how he had already passed his ‘halfway point’. and by the time he was phil’s age... he didn’t want to think about that. he definitely didn’t want to think about that.

just to his luck he was brought away from his train of thought as his phone buzzed.

** wilbur: what?? tommy ??? **

** wilbur: what do you mean ‘terminal illness’ ?!!? are you okay? you’re at the HOSPITAL?!?! **

tommy exhaled trying not to panic. this is exactly how he thought wilbur would react and he had been terrified of it.

** tommy: oh um yeah, i never told you did i? **

** wilbur: no you haven’t !? **

tommy groaned and quickly pulled up a website. although his condition was extremely rare, there were other people who had it. this organisation that ran the sight had pretty much all of the known information about his condition.

copying the link, he pasted it onto this chat message with wilbur.

** tommy: www.websitewithtommysillness.org **

** tommy: here that explains what i have ^^ **

** tommy: sorry for not telling you, i just didn’t want people to know ig **

wilbur took a while to respond, obviously reading and processing what was on the site. 

** wilbur: are you good to vc? **

tommy grimaced. he really didn’t want to. if he called wilbur the older man would definitely be able to notice the youngest poor condition. but he didn’t wanna disappoint him any further than he already had.

he quickly sent back a confirmation, and almost immediately his phone began to ring with a call coming from wilbur.

“hey, tommy?” tommy instantly relaxed at the sound of wilbur’s voice. it was silly, but the older man really was like an older brother to him.

“hi,” he said, exhaling shakily.

“how are you doing?” wilbur sounded anxious, god he was such a bad friend. why did he just spring this on wilbur? it wasn’t his fault - he never asked to be bombarded with this. he should’ve just never told him anything it was better that way, now wilbur will hate him and won’t want to waste his time putting up with the sick kid.

“i’m doing okay big man, being in a hospital sucks, but i’m used to it,” 

wilbur seemed to calm. “why didn’t you ever say anything about this tommy? you know that i of all people wouldn’t ever judge you for this right?” tommy froze, wilbur was lying, there was no other explanation as to why he was being so  nice. 

“I- I know you wouldn’t wilbur, but for my whole life, i’ve - i’ve always been the sick kid, the one who randomly missed school because of doctors appointments and hospital visits, whenever someone finds out that its terminal or whatever, they  _ always  _ treat me differently. when i started making videos and doing twitch and youtube and stuff, it was like an escape. no one saw the sick and miserable side of me, no one saw how i wasn’t able to participate in pe or had to leave class early to go to the nurse’s station. it- it was like a new side of life, and it was one where i could just be me. tommyinnit isn’t the same as tom. i just wanted to keep it completely separate, i didn’t want my friends online to look at me the same way that the kids in school did,”

as he finished speaking he released a breath that he hadn’t realised he had been holding. wilbur stayed quiet, taking it all in.

“oh,  _tommy_ ,”  wilbur used that tone, the one that he either used to mock the fact that he was a child, or when he was genuinely being kind to the younger. 

tommy had a strong suspicion that it was the latter. 

“it sucks to know that you have to deal with this tommy, and i can’t even imagine how strong you are to go through this so often, but you need to know that you can trust me - and everyone else.”

“we all care about you so much toms, today everyone was worried sick when you didn’t show up without any warning, trust me when i say that no one on the smp would think lesser of you if they found out about this okay? i know that i certainly don’t.”

tommy sniffled, wiping at his eyes - which were definitely 100% dry.

“but it’s important that you communicate with us, if we had known we definitely could’ve rescheduled the stream, it’s not a hassle or a big deal - and before you say anything you know for a fact that we would do the same for anyone else involved in the lore.”

tommy stayed quiet.

“just know that i’m here for you okay? you don’t have to deal with this alone.”

tommy nodded, before realising that wilbur couldn’t see him. 

“thank you wilbur, a-and i mean it.” the older chuckled, and tommy found himself suddenly craving the feeling of warmth that only a hug from another human could bring. 

the two stayed on call for a bit, talking about random things in hushed tones until tommy’s eyes began to droop. 

“that’s strange right?” wilbur questioned, he had been talking about some game developer or something, his voice barely above a whisper. 

“tommy?” he asked when he got no response.

hearing the soft sounds of snoring he chuckled to himself before leaving the call.

-•- 

the next day, tommy came to be with more clarity. he was a lot less out of it and found himself in what was probably the most annoying part of being stuck in a hospital. he felt restless and unproductive and all he wanted was to  do something.  but nooooo, the doctors and his parents wouldn’t let him. so he sat, bored out of his mind scrolling through his phone. 

he almost cried in relief when he got a notification. the boredom had been killing him. it was a message from wilbur.

** wilbur: hey, lmk if i’m overstepping - but are you planning on ever telling the others? **

** wilbur: like i said last night, they would not mind or treat you differently. they care just as much as i do  **

tommy sighed. this was what he had been dreading. he knew that once wilbur knew, it would only be a matter of time until the others found out too. 

he was still yet to respond to anyone else’s messages either, other than tubbo and wilbur no one else knew if he was even alive.

** tommy: maybe, but idk i’m still nervous **

** wilbur: valid, but know that we will all support you dude, i’ll be right there behind you if or when you wanna tell them **

tommy groaned, why were things so difficult!

** tommy: i might tell the discord today  **

** wilbur: awesome! i’ll be there if you need anything okay? **

** tommy:  👍 **

he sighed running a hand through his hair.

_might as well get it over and done with..._ he opened up the discord and started typing.

** @everyone **

** TommyInnit: **

** hey, i’ve been meaning to let you guys know about this for a while now, it’s just been a bit daunting and i wasn’t quite ready to tell you all about it. i’m so so sorry for missing the stream yesterday! i promise it won’t happen again - i didn’t really have much control over it.  **

** long story short i have something called prestirizter syndrome. it’s a long term thing, and in most cases (including my own) it’s terminal. yes it’s very sad blah blah blah.  **

** every now and again i have ‘flare ups’ and i hadn’t had a bad one in a while, until wednesday. as per usual it resulted in me being hospitalised so i couldn’t exactly stream lmao.  **

** you can read more about prestirizter syndrome here if you care: **

** www.websitewithtommysillness.org  **

** (and yes the stuff about life expectancy is true.) **

** it’s sucks i know, but please don’t be different about it, i’m still the same incredible big man that i was before. if you have any questions feel free to ask. i just thought that i’d let you know in case something like wednesday ever happens again. <3 **

** Wilbur Soot: **

** i’m so proud of you for sharing this tommy, let us know if we can ever help with anything  **

** Dream:  **

** thank you for sharing this with us tommy, i can’t even imagine what it must be like like wilbur said, i’m here for you if you ever need, and if you wanna or feel like we need to reschedule and move around things with lore and streams we 100% can **

** Tubbo: **

** we love u man, ty for sharing this with us **

** Philza: **

** I read the site, that sounds terrible to go through mate, you are genuinely so strong for everything you deal with and we are very proud of you for sharing this with us **

many other messages from other members from the smp followed a similar pattern (he even saw one from technoblade!) and even though he knew that they wouldn’t kick him out or anything, he was still overwhelmingly surprised at the sheer amount of support and kind words he had received from everyone.

he found himself quickly getting emotional and hastily wiped at his eyes before shooting off a quick message. 

** TommyInnit: **

** ty guys, you have no idea how much you all mean to me <3 **

-•-

a couple months had passed since telling everyone about his condition, and the long awaited sleepy bois meetup was finally happening!! as covid began to clear up, realistic talk about a small meetup began, and tommy was  _thrilled_.

he had missed going outside so much, and because of his condition, even as things were beginning to get better in the uk he was still at risk to covid-19. so yes, he was definitely excited to see his friends again.

here he was, standing awkwardly withhis dad as they waited for phil and wilbur. once his dad passed tommy over, they were going to go pick up techno from the airport. yes, he flew over. this time around, tommy would be staying for longer than just a day, his parents had agreed for him to stay at wilbur’s place for a few days with phil and kristen.

this still all felt like a fever dream.

“remember to take your medicine tom, call me if you start to feel like a flare-ups beginning, oh and don’t be afraid to let the others know if you aren’t feeling too well okay?” his dad said, probably more anxious than tommy himself was.

he rolled his eyes, “yes dad i know,” 

his dad laughed, ruffling his hair again.

“dad!” he squawked, ducking away.

just in time to see his embarrassment, phil and wilbur approached the pair.

“tommy!” wilbur bellowed, wrapping the younger up in a hug. tommy melted into the hug, for so long he had wanted nothing but to have another one of his older brothers incredibly warm hugs, and it was finally happening. 

wilbur was actually here, standing in front of him.

the older pulled away and ruffled his hair. “agh! what is it with people touching my hair!” tommy leant back from wilbur to fix his hair, ducking away as he reached up again to mess it up. 

phil smiled and laughed, “hello mate,” the old man leant forward and added his hand to the many that had apparently decided to ruffle tommy’s hair. 

tommy, in a somewhat childish fashion stomped his foot. “phil!”

the four spent a little bit of time laughing and talking, before eventually his dad announced that he had to get going. 

they all said their goodbyes, and tommy watched as his dad quietly pulled wilbur aside, probably to let him know what needs to be done if something goes wrong or if in a very bad scenario, he manages to flare up during his stay.

as tommy said goodbye to his dad the other two gave him some space.

eventually, all the goodbyes were said, so the three remaining sleepy bois made their way over to wilbur’s car and began to drive to the airport, where technoblade was flying in from london. 

it was shocking to see technoblade in person, definitely the nail on the coffin that just added to the whole ‘this feels surreal’ thing. 

“well if it isn’t the infamous BLADE” tommy cried, running headfirst towards the american. 

he looked down at tommy with a strange look in his eye, it almost seemed like fondness. 

“hello tommy.”

once the four were together the energy became rather unhinged, and wilbur seemed as if he had snorted multiple lines of cocaine prior to the meetup. but then again, wilbur tended to act like that quite regularly.

the next few days were filled with an insane amount of fun (and lots of very high quality vlog content had been recorded).

in their time together, they had gone back to the arcade from their first meetup, visited the beach, and wilbur had given them a very intense tour around brighton, taking them to all his favourite restaurants, shops and places throughout their stay. 

and although he’d never mention it - it really did warm his heart to see how they subtly were looking out for him. whether it was wilbur passing him his medicine in the morning, or slowing down when waking somewhere for him, or making sure he had enough water to drink and food to eat, they were all watching out for their younger brother. 

the days had almost been going too well, and tommy knew that it was only a matter of time until something went wrong. 

it was the last day when things began to turn downhill. they had planned to spend the last day doing the most together, as the next morning tommy’s dad would be arriving to take him back, and technoblade would be flying home later in the afternoon. 

the day started out alright, but he could feel it in his bones that something was wrong. as they had breakfast together he started to feel uncomfortable, and his joints were beginning to hurt.

no no no no no! this wasn’t supposed to be happening. as they all split off to get ready tommy struggled to make it to the room he had been staying in. he made it to his bed and all but collapsed onto it.

he pitifully groaned, head and bones aching. it wasn’t bad enough to lead to a flare up, but it was enough to prevent him from doing much at all. he wanted to cry, this was stupid! why did he just have to go and ruin everything. he would just have to power through it. he was not going to ruin today.

he attempted to sit up to get off the bed, but to his horror he found that he couldn’t move. he panicked as he realised. he literally couldn’t even lift up and of his limbs, he felt as if he was paralysed. he gasped for air, attempting to move again, but nothing happened.

he whimpered, trying to force himself up. it hurt, but he eventually got into somewhat of a sitting position.

he leant against the headboard, sweat beaded at his forehead. 

he heard soft knocking against the door. 

“tommy? are you okay? we’re waiting for you downstairs,” it was wilbur. 

he really didn’t want to upset wilbur, so he was half tempted to lie and say yes he was fine and that he’d be downstairs in a minute. but he knew that they’d instantly see through it.

he knocked again. “tommy?”

sucking up any sense of confidence that he had he called out to wilbur.

“w-wilbur?” his voice wavered. 

“tommy?” his voice seemed alarmed. “is it okay if i come in,”

tommy managed to respond with a mangled yes.

as soon as wilbur opened the door his eyes were filled with concern.

“oh my god tommy, are you okay?!” he half remembered to nod in response. 

“y-y-yes, i’m- i’m fine. sorry for ruining to-today,” wilbur sighed, and gently rested his hand on tommy’s shoulder.

“tommy, dont apologise for this  _please_.  it’s okay alright? where on the scale are you, is it serious?” 

oh great. his dad told wilbur about the scale. his eyes narrowed. “s-seven. it’s not- it’s not too bad. just- i’m sorry, i don’t think i’ll be able to do much today.”

wilbur’s gaze softened, and he gently brushed a strand of hair away from tommy’s face. it was so  _soft_ , and  so  _domestic_.  tommy found himself subconsciously leaning into the touch.

“is it okay if i leave you here for a minute while i go let the others know? afterwards we can go downstairs, we can spend today indoors, watching movies and stuff alright?”

tommy tried to sit up more in protest. “no, no i-it’s okay, you guys should all go o-out. i’m fine stay-staying here.” wilbur rolled his eyes.

“tommy, we don’t want to spend today without you, it’s supposed to be cold today anyways, i don’t think any of us mind staying in today okay?” 

still not believing it, tommy grunted but still nodded.

wilbur gave him a quick smile, before running downstairs to tell the others that their plans were being tweaked. 

when he came back up, he helped tommy out of bed, and acted as crutches for him as they slowly made their way downstairs. 

he saw kristen, phil and technoblade already seated in the lounge, and noticed that they had left a wilbur and tommy sized gap for the two.

as they got cozy in the couch with blankets, they began to watch the first movie (phil had put on up, he remembered tommy saying he liked it). tommy tried to ignore the concerned stares of the others.

eventually he turned towards the others.

“i’m sorry for ruining all of you guys’ days.” his voice was small, barely heard over the film playing.

immediately they all broke out in a series of reassurances and disagreements, saying that he wasn’t as a matter of fact, ruining anything. 

overwhelmed by the pure kindness that they had all treated him with, and still recovering from the fact that they all seemed to care  so _much_ ,  it really wasn’t his fault that he got teary eyed. when wilbur noticed the youngest’s state he pulled him in close, giving tommy a side hug. he rested his head on wilbur’s shoulder, and nestled in, wiping his tears away.

“thank you guys,” and he meant it.

as the movie played on, tommy only had one thought. feeling the warmth of wilbur on his side, and the comfort of having some of his best friends around him, he felt so incredibly lucky.

because while he may have to deal with things that most other teenagers don’t, he was incredibly lucky to have his second family supporting his every step of the way through this scary and sometimes painful journey into the unknown.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed! i love comments and kudos so feel free to let me know ur thoughts :)
> 
> you can find me on twitter @monalxves <3


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